Transcript History - Solon City Schools

Our Littlest Comets
SOLON SCHOOLS PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
Solon Schools Preschool Program serves
75 of the youngest students in
Solon & Glenwillow.
Why a preschool?

Public Law 99-457
By 1989, all public school
districts were required to
provide education services to
all students in their community
between the ages of 3-5 who
have documented disabilities.
What are Preschool Special
Education Programs?

Most school districts created programs that included typically
developing children as well as students with developmental delays.

Least restrictive learning environment. The goal is for children to be
educated to the extent possible with their same-age developing
peers.
What are Preschool Special
Education Programs?

Research supports that
children learn from
peer models.

Authentic interactions
and learning from
same-age peers is
more effective and
engaging than trying to
simulate that
interaction with adults.
How Do Students Qualify for
Services?
Child Find
 We
advertise
and post
information in the
community
seeking to
identify children
beginning at
age 3.
How Do Students Qualify for
Services?
Multi-factored evaluations that measure a
child’s development across all domains:
Communication
Motor skills (gross and fine)
Behavioral
Social-emotional
Adaptive behavior
Cognitive/Pre-academic skills
Hearing and vision
Sensory processing
Services We Provide
A full continuum of pre-school age intervention services
and programming, including:
 Itinerant
services
Weekly therapy sessions and interventionist
meetings with children in our pre-school
setting to provide needed services.
Services We Provide

Center-based classrooms
integrated with the peer models.
Services We Provide

Self-contained
classrooms for
children with more
intensive instructional
needs.
Who Works With Students?

Classroom Teachers

More than 50% of our teaching staff have master’s degrees in early childhood special
education.

Classroom Assistants

School Psychologist

Speech and Language Therapist

Occupational Therapist

Physical Therapist

We also work collaboratively with the Cuyahoga County Board of
Developmental Disabilities to provide assistive technology and augmentative
communication devices for students.
Our Students
Students with identified needs:

The majority of our
students have
communication delays.

Others have a range of
delays such as motor
delays, behavioral
challenges, socialemotional concerns like
anxiety, and sensory
processing challenges like
over-stimulation to sound
and touch.
Our Students
Typically developing students:
 Our
peer models are children who primarily have good
communication skills, as well as good social and play skills.
 They
have the ability to listen and follow directions.
Our Educational Program

Our preschool curriculum follows
Ohio’s Early Learning and
Developmental Standards.
These include:

Social and Emotional Development

Physical Well-Being and Motor
Development

Approaches Toward Learning

Language and Literacy Development

Cognition and General Knowledge
Our Educational Program
Language-based thematic classroom units
cover topics such as seasons, fairy tales,
nighttime, holidays and family culture.
Our Educational Program
Social-emotional development, such as creating friendships, respecting others, self
advocating, regulating emotional and behavioral reactions, and perspective taking.
Our Educational Program
Pre-academic skills, such as letter awareness, numeric
reasoning, pre-writing and fine motor development.
Our Educational Program
Daily gross motor activities, such as
playground play, riding toys, bikes,
scooters, music and movement
activities.
Our Educational Program
Pet therapy for students with autism and severe
developmental delays to help work on sensory issues.
We Are Regulated by the State of Ohio


Annual Licensing Regulations through ODE

Review of Physical School Environment

Staff Credentials and Required Trainings

Student Records
Step Up To Quality: 5 Star Rating System

Learning and Development

Administration and Leadership Practices

Staff Qualifications and Professional Development

Family and Community Partnerships
Like all Solon schools, we live our
mission of Every Student, Every Day…